Many visitors to Rome take the opportunity to mail postcards and letters back home from another country, no, not Italy — Vatican City! The Vatican has had its own post office and stamps since 1929. More items are mailed from the Vatican City postal code (00120) per inhabitant than from any other postal code in the world. The Universal Postal Union has called the Vatican, “one of the best postal systems in the world.”
In fact, the Italian postal system has such reputation for slow service that I know Romans who will only use the Vatican’s postal system when mailing things abroad. Why? Well, your mail will get where it’s going faster than if you mailed it from a regular Rome post office and spent the same amount. Plus, isn’t it neat to have Vatican City stamps on your postcards? (Remember, you can’t use Italian stamps here!)
There are several outposts of the Vatican Post Office including one near the museum and one of the left side of St. Peter’s Square as you are facing St. Peter’s Basilica. Another advantage of visiting the post office — their stamps are truly beautiful and the perfect souvenir to bring back home for any stamp lover.
If you’re planning a trip to the Vatican, reserve a Skip The Line Tour or reserve for a Papal Audience.
By Kathy McCabe
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Photo by acme41, flickr.com
Well all well and good for all the people who have mailed post cards from the Vatican. But my wife & I visited the Vatican and mailed 30 post cards on sept 27th to the U.S.A
And none of our relatives or friends have yet rec’d them…and today is Oct. 24th…
We are both furious….Help! ver disappointed….
We mailed 4 postcards on Monday October 15 from the Vatican (did the same picture as above so we do have proof we actually mailed them) and still nothing. I guess that is usual? We are very disappointed as we stood in 2 different lines (one to buy the postcards and the other to get the right amount of postage) Should we continue to be patient or just give up as there is no reason to believe that we will ever get them now?
Wondering if the above mail was ever delivered? Similarly, we spent over 30E on stamps and postcards Just so we could mail them (to the U.S.) from Vatican City. Did so on 27 December, it is now 13 January and none have arrived, though those sent later, directly from a Rome street mailbox, have been delivered.
I’m in Venice (just left Florence) and I’ve had trouble not only finding post offices, but not much luck finding stamps at the tobacco shops either (as I was told to try). I was most shocked that when I did find/buy stamps I was charged 2.20€ for each postcard stamp!!! It was a ‘traceable’ stamp at a postcard shop. Not really sure what that was, but hope it gets to the destination since I bought several. I thought maybe it was some sort of scam or overcharge, but when I did find and buy stamps at the post office they were the same price – so the stamp really does cost many times more than the postcard! I guess It really does cost a small fortune to send postcards from Italy! I don’t think Imwill be sending many more postcards while on trips anymore. I used to send out to all family & friends. No more…
Good
I had mailed 10 cards from Vatican City on August 11, 2017. It’s August 24 today and We have not received any cards nor do so do my friends and family. Very disappointing ☹️
Vatican city is awesome.the people who said it doesn’t work is dumb.
We mailed postcards from that exact post box at the Vatican, and they arrived to us in the USA with Roma postmarks!!! So disappointing! How did that happen???